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Drayson Racing looks to set new electric vehicle land speed record

Fresh from its success in breaking the land speed record at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire, Drayson Racing wants to take things further still and see if it can smash its own record of 204.2mph.

Established by former UK science minister-Lord Paul Drayson-Drayson Racing now plans to take its B12 69/EV electric Le Mans Prototype car to the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to try and raise the land speed record for a sub-1000g/km electric car.

To be driven by Lord Drayson himself, who piloted the B12 to success at Elvington last June achieving over 200mph over a measured mile, its hoped that the longer track at Bonneville will allow the racing car to go even faster.

The car is scheduled to run at the Bonneville Speed Shootout, which starts tomorrow (running September 12-18) where the fastest cars and motorcycles in the world aim to establish new FIA and FIM certified speed records. Lord Drayson is aiming to push the 800bhp B12/69 EV to its maximum possible speed during the US attempt.

Said Lord Drayson, CEO of Drayson Racing Technologies: “We are delighted to be invited to Bonneville and to be racing on the West Coast – without doubt the spiritual home of the electric vehicle.”

“Back in June, the relatively short runway at Elvington limited our top speed as we had to brake as the car was still accelerating. We are looking forward to discovering just how fast the car can go on the wide-open spaces of the Bonneville salt flats, although its been a major engineering challenge to prepare the car for running on salt.”

“The development of lightweight car technology is a key part of the drive to bring electric cars to market with the range and performance that consumers expect. That is why we are focused on the sub-1000kg category for the EV world record. It presents the greatest technical challenge to engineer a car that weighs under 1000kg, goes over 200mph and is purely driven by sustainable electric energy.”

One of the team’s major backers and supporters is San Diego-based, Qualcomm, a leading provider of wireless technology and services. The Drayson B12 record car incorporates Qualcomm’s Wireless Vehicle Electric Charging (WEVC) system that uses inductive wireless energy transfer, eliminating the need for a plug-in cord, used in most electric cars today.

Drayson Racing hopes that the new record attempt will demonstrate the future possibilities of EV technology and performance and highlight the importance of lightweight build in future electric car design.

Faye has been writing about cars and environmental issues since 2007. A suspected eco-warrior working on the corporate inside, Faye mainly likes the weird, quirky vehicles that show a distinct environmental advantage. Her ideal car has enough room to fit a bale of hay in the boot. When not working, she likes nothing better than to head out on her bicycle and explore the countryside.